U.S. Court Orders Defense Department to Release Photos and Videos to ACLU

On September 29, 2005, U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ordered the U.S. Department of Defense to release 74 photographs and three videos depicting abuse of prisoners in U.S. custody at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The court stayed the release of the photos for 20 days during which the U.S. government is expected to appeal. In explaining his order, Judge Hellerstein said that publication of the photographs will help to answer questions about the unlawful conduct of American soldiers, as well as "the command structure that failed to exercise discipline over the troops, and the persons in that command structure whose failures in exercising supervision may them culpable along with the soldiers who were court-martialed for perpetrating the wrongs ? [more]